It is clear that the signal to noise ratio of the WWW is getting worse. It's much harder to find good content when using a good old search engine. And if it's good it is usually hosted on Reddit or Stackexchange.

So remember, even if it's easy too Google something (well, it isn't nowadays), we want to create a fediverse of good content that helps people (I hope). So, it's always better to write a real answer if you have the time and energy. Please help boost the SNR and reverse the AI fueled information degradation loop.

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[–] Zementid@feddit.nl 26 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

I feel like it’s 2000 all over again on the Internet. The bloat has made pages borderline unusable, and using AdBlock or NoScript reverts any so-called "design progress" back to the good old HTML days.

Google is only semi-useful now, while pages like DuckDuckGo are starting to deliver results reminiscent of the old Yahoo or Lycos days.

It feels like my trusty, old-school Internet skills are helping me navigate this mess. The reemergence of usenet / groups feels inevitable.

[–] sheogorath@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago

It's like a bouncing ball, social media starts small, and then it became bigger. It's trending on becoming small again. In the future (barring civilization ending war/calamity) it'll become big again due to some technological progress or shift in society.

[–] richieadler@lemmy.myserv.one 16 points 6 days ago (1 children)

If you don't show me that you at least made some effort to investigate: No.

[–] Merlin@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Its a bit annoying when i google something and search forums and cant find an answer and i go to ask reddit or a forum and someone says"just google it" like am i really expected to make a preamble every ask-post that I've searched already?

[–] richieadler@lemmy.myserv.one 5 points 5 days ago

i really expected to make a preamble every ask-post that I’ve searched already?

Yes. You need to show your effort, otherwise your question will be considered lazy. This is specially true regarding technical issues in volunteer forums.

The seminal essay "How To Ask Questions the Smart Way" explains these and other finer points.

[+] MITM0@lemmy.world 21 points 6 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (3 children)

[removed by mod]

[–] brian@programming.dev 5 points 6 days ago (1 children)

on one hand I agree. on the other, google has historically been afraid of the verb to google becoming generic, so of course I'd like to see that happen.

I think the middle ground is say google it, but make it clear you mean google it on an alternative search engine

[–] bluewing@lemm.ee 3 points 6 days ago

Yep, just like Kleenex, or Xerox, (a faded term for mimeograph/photocopy), Google has become a generic verb/term for search in virtually every language now. To google something is synonymous with search. It no longer implies a specific search engine. (I use Ghostery private search myself). Google has lost the war on their name and "It's a Good Thing^tm^"

But there does seem to be a greater amount of "search entitlement" these days for even the easiest of problems. People as a very general rule don't seem to want to be bothered by the need to learn things on their own. They expect others to provide them all the answers in an effortless format.

I've even provided detailed answers to people on some 'life threat level' activities that were rejected because I didn't simply reaffirm their ignorant and misguided thoughts in looking for shortcut answers.

[–] udon@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago

I wish I had the power to make google a not integral part of the internet just by calling it duckduckgoing.

On that note: If you talk about what you searched for last week, would that be "I duckduckgoed" or "I duckduckwent"?

[–] dezmd@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

Jokes on you, I google it using ddg!

[–] Sunshine@lemmy.ca 4 points 6 days ago

Check on Ecosia!

[–] OmegaLemmy@discuss.online 4 points 6 days ago

Never say just, and if you bother answering be proper about it

[–] wicked_observer@lemm.ee 3 points 6 days ago

I never say it like that. But I’ll tell people I found it by searching it. People really need to learn how to search first.

[–] spujb@lemmy.cafe 4 points 6 days ago

comment removed for sealioning

[–] BigDanishGuy@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 days ago

Did you mean "Don't reply, just google it"? /s

[–] Mio@feddit.nu 2 points 6 days ago

Search for it on the Internet

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